


This Time

by dracoqueen22



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst and Fluff, Established Relationship, Kinda Crossover AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 15:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4965811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoqueen22/pseuds/dracoqueen22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the hardest parts of being together, is knowing that they belong to their costumes first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Time

**Author's Note:**

> For Mistress_Pirate's FFF#63 prompt of BatFlash, don't believe everything you hear in the tabloids

The moment the camera snapped, Bruce knew he'd have to explain himself. While Wally wasn't prone to jealousies or even listening to the local trash tabloids, there was something undeniable about a picture splashed on the front page.  
  
He understood the persona Bruce presented to the world. He didn't like it, but he understood.  
  
That didn't mean an explanation wasn't warranted.  
  
Playboy Bruce Wayne grinned and leaned into a kiss that tasted of champagne and expensive lipstick, the smell of her perfume burning his nose. He tried to ignore the strong hand around his waist from the other side and the warmth of the strong body pressed against him.  
  
That was the kiss he'd have to explain. That was the picture worth a thousand words. He could just imagine the headlines now.  
  
Wally was going to be furious.  
  
Smooching debutantes for the cameras was one thing. Tangling tongues with handsome heirs-to-the-throne was quite another. Bruce Wayne was supposed to be hanging off the arm of some attractive female just as power-hungry as himself.  
  
Powerful males like Thomas Eliot were an entirely different story.  
  
But Bruce smiled and kept on smiling. He laughed where appropriate. He endured the grope across his backside and the nibble on his ear, and he politely excused himself to the bathroom where he stared out the window at the nightsky and hoped in vain for a Batsignal. He wondered where Wally was.  
  
Hopefully not at home, eating his tenth bowl of Count Chocula while he watched the live coverage of the Silver Awards just because he knew Bruce would be there.  
  
Bruce, however, knew his luck and he knew Wally. That's exactly where the flame-haired speedster would be.  
  
Bruce sighed, scrubbed his hands down his face, and braced himself to go back into the fray. The sooner he could get this done, the sooner he could go home, and the sooner he could get to the part where he apologized and explained himself.  
  
It couldn't be soon enough.  
  
Or too late, as it turned out, because it was well on toward morning before Bruce could pretend to stumble out of the after-party and into the back of the limousine where an ever patient Alfred waited for him. He didn't comment at the lateness/earliness of the hour, but then, that was Alfred. Bruce didn't deserve him.  
  
Bruce was exhausted. He didn't know how celebrations and pretending to be Bruce the Playboy was more tiring to him than fighting crime until sunrise. He sat back in the seat and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the rest. He debated picking up his communicator and pinging Dick or Tim to check on his city.  
  
It would probably only frustrate them.  
  
“Long night?'  
  
His eyes popped open. If not for the familiarity of the voice, he might have reacted violently, but Bruce had trained himself to memorize Wally's voice, his footsteps, his very presence.  
  
He hated how easily Wally could sneak up on him. Then again, given his fatigue, he shouldn't be so surprised. Also, Alfred must have known he was here, and Alfred wouldn't have allowed an assassin to slip into the back of the limo. Alfred was old, not helpless.  
  
Wally sat across from him, plainclothes in jeans and a t-shirt, his hair ruffled, a drop of brown on the collar of his white t-shirt.  
  
Count Chocula strikes again.  
  
Bruce tilted his head and tugged on his tie to loosen it. “You were watching,” he said. It wasn't a question. “Tommy is an old friend.”  
  
Wally grinned. “Sure he is. You have a lot of those. Or should I say, Bruce does.” He shrugged and rubbed his hands down his thighs. “Funny that you've never mentioned him before though.”  
  
The underlying accusation was there.  
  
Tommy was not on the list of approved flirting partners for Bruce. He should have seen this likelihood coming. He should have prepared Wally for it. Why hadn't he? He didn't know.  
  
Bruce unknotted his tie and left it hanging around his neck. “What did they say?”  
  
“Oh. The usual. Bruce is a playboy. Bruce's bed is never empty. Seems like Bruce isn't happy with just the Wayne fortune. Blah, blah, blah.” Wally rolled his eyes, but he didn't roll them far enough to hide the hurt.  
  
So young. So painfully young. How often did Bruce let himself forget this?  
  
Wally was an adult, but there was a ten year difference between them. Sometimes, it really showed. Times like these, it showed.  
  
“You know better than to believe everything you hear,” Bruce said as he caught Wally's gaze. “You're upset.”  
  
Wally exhaled noisily. He gripped the edge of the seat. “No. I'm not.”  
  
“Wally.”  
  
He sighed and stared at the floor. “I know I’m not supposed to be. Don't give me that look.”  
  
Bruce leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Tommy is an old friend. The closest thing I had to a brother when I was younger. There is nothing more between us than the show you saw us put on for the benefit of the paparazzi.”  
  
“I realize that.” Wally scrubbed a hand down his face, suddenly looking far older. He raked a hand through his hair, foiling the wind-swept strands. “I didn't say it was rational. I know good and well the masks you have to put on.”  
  
“But that doesn't mean you like it.”  
  
Wally pinched his lips together. His shoulders hunched. He opened his mouth as though to speak, only to close it again. His internal struggle was written across his face.  
  
Bruce pulled himself out of his seat and dropped to his knees in front of Wally, resting his hands on Wally's knees and prompting the speedster to blink at him in surprise.  
  
“You are the one I chose,” Bruce said, once he was sure he had Wally's attention. “You are the one I trust with my identity, and that of my sons. Do not forget that.”  
  
“I haven't,” Wally insisted and his hands fell over Bruce's, squeezing tight. “It's just… there are times I want to shout from the rooftops how much I love you,” he said and his cheeks reddened. “And the rest of the time, I laugh to myself because I have this secret and no one can know, and that makes it special because that means I don't have to share you. Until I turn on the TV and realize that yeah, I kinda do.”  
  
His confession dropped into the space between them. Bruce's heart squeezed tightly because he understood where Wally was coming from, but there was nothing he could do about it. This was the life Bruce had chosen, and the one he couldn't surrender. It was the reason he made himself remain single. He knew it would be unfair to his partner.  
  
Until Wally had zoomed into his life and changed everything.  
  
His thumbs stroked over Wally's knees, and he leaned up, pressing a quick kiss to Wally's lips. “It is grossly unfair, I know,” Bruce said as Wally's cheeks darkened and his eyes widened. “I won't ask you to continue putting up with it. I'll understand if it's too much. I can't promise that I'll stop either. It is an unfortunate mask I must wear. But know this, that person is not me.”  
  
Wally smiled, though it was shaky. “I know,” he said and knocked himself in the head with one hand. “Sometimes, I just have to remind my head what my heart knows is all.” He grinned, all crooked and as charming as the first smile that nudged at Bruce's walls all those years ago.  
  
He kissed Wally again, savoring the sweetness, thinking that it was probably only a matter of time before Wally left, like all the others. So he would take what he could get now.  
  
One more bright light to stave off the dark.  
  


****

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcome and appreciated.


End file.
